Portico imprint: 123 books
Science's Strangest Inventions
Extraordinary but true stories from over 200 years of inventive history
Language: English
Release Date: June 4, 2015
The history of science is littered with mad, bad and delightfully dotty inventions, from the bicycle that relied for its momentum on the rider waggling his head back and forth continually to the Improved Pneumatic Advertising Hat - a bowler that hurled a lit-up billboard into the air at the touch...
Shooting's Strangest Days
Extraordinary but true stories from 200 years of shooting
Language: English
Release Date: July 30, 2015
Mad old colonels who took their trousers off before going elephant hunting, women poachers with terriers sewn into their underskirts, duck shooters chasing their quarry in helicopters - here they all in their vast and until now, long forgotten, eccentricity. Shooting's Strangest Days is a unique collection...
by Tom Quinn
Language: English
Release Date: September 17, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: September 17, 2015
Military campaigns, pivotal battles and extraordinary leaders have collectively shaped the course of history and in this fascinating book, author Tom Quinn examines some of the most remarkable campaigns, incidents and characters from the earliest recorded histories to the second Gulf war. These strange...
How to Be A Chilli Head
Inside the red-hot world of the chilli cult
Language: English
Release Date: June 4, 2015
Welcome to the world of the chilli cult. All over the globe, people are getting together to grow chilli, taste chilli and make sauce hot enough to blow their heads off. Competition among chilli -growers is fierce, and tall tales of dastardly deeds abound. This sizzling-hot book is your essential guide...
The Girl in the Song
The Real Stories Behind 50 Rock Classics
Language: English
Release Date: November 24, 2014
The Girl in the Song tells the stories of 50 women who have inspired classic rock songs. Who was Emily in Pink Floyd's See Emily Play? What happened to Suzanne Verdal, immortalised in Leonard Cohen's Suzanne? Did life change for Prudence Farrow after John Lennon penned Dear Prudence? And whatever...
The Boy in the Song
The real stories behind 50 classic pop songs
Language: English
Release Date: November 24, 2014
The Boy in the Song is a follow up to 2010's The Girl in the Song. It features the real-life stories that inspired some classic pop songs about the male of the species. While the first book was filled with songs about unrequited love, the follow-up is more varied, with songs written from a number...
How Not to Talk Like an Arse
101 Words You Shouldn't Use Any Time Soon
Language: English
Release Date: June 27, 2013
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the bookshop, comes bestselling author Richard Wilson's triumphant follow up to Can't Be Arsed and Don't Even Think About It!, How Not to Talk Like an Arse is Mr Wilson's hilarious, and topical, self righteous stab at the modern day vernacular, taking...
Can't Be Arsed: Half Arsed Shorter Edition
63 Things Not To Do Before You Die
Language: English
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Books, television shows and websites are forever ordering us around - 100 things to do before you're 30; 50 albums you must own; this year's must-have handbag; change your life in two weeks.
The Story of Northern Soul
A Definitive History of the Dance Scene that Refuses to Die
Language: English
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Packed with memorabilia and anecdotes from the Twisted Wheel in Manchester to the mighty Wigan Casino,The Story of Northern Soul is the definitive history of the Northern Soul scene.
Crap Lyrics
A celebration of the very worst pop lyrics of all time... EVER!
Language: English
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Crap Lyrics is a humorous celebration (and occasionally, condemnation) of over 120 of the most ridiculous hooks, lines and stinkers from pop poetry through the modern ages.
Jack the Ripper
The Facts
Language: English
Release Date: April 18, 2013
Using contemporary documents, police files, Home Office papers and newspaper reports, 'Jack the Ripper: The Facts' recreates the notorious crimes and police investigation of 1888 to provide the best available overview of the 'Great Victorian Mystery', the greatest unsolved, true crime story of all...
by Andrew Ward
Language: English
Release Date: March 5, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: March 5, 2015
This collection of oddities shows how Contract Bridge has played its part in embezzlement, murder, suicide, kidnapping, imprisonment and battle. The stories feature similar hands to those of bridge - the complete misfit, the two-way slam and men against women - while others, like 'Thirteen Spades'...
Cricket's Strangest Matches
Extraordinary but true stories from over a century of cricket
Language: English
Release Date: June 4, 2015
A fascinating collection of true stories about cricket's oddest matches - ranging from the bizarre to the downright hilarious. Drawn from the lengthy annals of the game's history, Cricket's Strangest Matches is a must for all cricket enthusiasts and for anyone interested in the history of the sport.Other...
by Dominic Greyer
Language: English
Release Date: July 30, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: July 30, 2015
Photographer Dominic Greyer has spent the last twenty years roaming the British landscape in search of the country's most unusual placenames. He has an eye for quirky, rude and downright ridiculous name signs, and has photographed them all. But this is not merely a book of silly placenames - Dominic's...